An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Dach

by Friedrich Kluge

Dach, neuter, ‘roof, cover, shelter,’ from Middle High German dach, neuter, ‘roof, covering, ceiling, awning,’ Old High German dah; it corresponds to Anglo-Saxon þœc, ‘roof,’ English thatch, Old Icelandic þak; Gothic *Þak, ‘roof,’ is wanting, the term used being hrôt, the primitively Teutonic term for ‘roof,’ allied to Decken. The art of constructing houses (see under Giebel, First, Haus, Thür, Schwelle, Tenne, Zimmer, &c.) was not yet developed when the Teutons were migrating from East to West; hence most of the technical terms are peculiar to Teutonic. The primary meaning of the word Dach is apparent, since it is formed by gradation from a Teutonic root Þek, Aryan teg, ‘to cover’; Latin tego, tegere; Greek τέγος, neuter, ‘roof’; the same stage of gradation as in High German Dach is seen in Latin toga (‘the covering garment’), Latin tugurium, ‘hut.’ The same root appears in Greek with a prefix s, στέγω, ‘I cover,’ στέγη, ‘roof,’ as well as in Lithuanian stógas, ‘roof,’ Indian sthágâmi, ‘I cover.’ Hence the High German Dach, like the equivalent Greek τέγος, στέγη, Lithuanian stógas (akin to stěgti, ‘to cover’), signifies properly ‘the covering part.’